🌏 On the ground at NY Climate Week #166

Happy Monday!

No headline today, since the full CTVC will be running around at Climate Week. If you see us, come say hi! And ICYMI, last week we shared one of our biggest drops ever via an expanded view of the Climate Capital Stack that includes investors beyond venture for the first time.

In the news this week, the EU adopts an ambitious SAF mandate. California cracks down on GHG disclosures, and amid a historic EV transition, workers are officially striking at three US automakers.

Meanwhile in deals, battery manufacturers attract more than $1B. Bio-based plastics alternatives bring in $70M and earth observation lands (hah) $50M.

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Deals of the Week (9/11-9/17)

Venture Fundings

🔋 Verkor, a Grenoble, France-based battery manufacturer, raised $907M in Series C funding, alongside $640M in debt support from the European Investment Bank, and $693M of French subsidies.

🔋 Lyten, a San Jose, CA-based producer of lithium-sulfur batteries, raised $200M in Series B funding from Prime Movers Lab, Stellantis, FedEx Corporation, Honeywell, and Walbridge Aldinger Company.

🧪 UBQ Materials, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based biobased thermoplastics, raised $70M in Growth funding from Eden Global Partners, TPG Rise Climate, TPG Rise Fund, M&G Investments, and Battery Ventures.

🏠 Mighty Buildings, an Oakland, CA-based 3D printing homes developer, raised $52M in funding from Waed Ventures, Bold Capital, and Khosla Ventures.

🛰️ Open Cosmos, a London, UK-based low Earth observation platform, raised $50M in Series B funding.

☀️ Erthos, a Tempe, AZ-based solar mount technology provider, raised $24M in Series C funding from Capricorn’s Technology Impact Funds.

☀️ Heliene, a Mountain Iron, MN-based solar PV module manufacturer, raised $20M in equity funding from OIC and 2Shores Capital, alongside $150M of debt from Orion Infrastructure Capital.

🌱 Pulsora, a San Francisco, CA-based ESG reporting and data management platform, raised $20M in Series A funding from Galvanize Climate Solutions, Sompo Holdings, Sabanci Ventures, JetBlue Ventures, FINTOP Capital, and other investors.

⚡ Prisma Photonics, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based sensor-free monitoring system for grids, raised $20M in Series C funding from Insight Partners, Future Energy Ventures, INCapital Partners, SE Ventures, and Chione.

⚡ Evolectric, a Long Beach, CA-based provider of circular EV solutions, raised $15M from Seismic Capital.

🌱 Optera, a Boulder, CO-based sustainability management software platform, raised $12M in Series A funding from NEXT Frontier Capital, Blackhorn Ventures, Mucker Capital, Overture VC, Engage, and other investors.

💨 CO2 AI, a Boston, MA-based end-to-end carbon management platform, raised $12M from Unusual Ventures, Partech and BCG.

🌱 DetraPel, a Boston, MA-based sustainable coatings manufacturer, raised $8M in Series A funding from Material Impact, INX International, Touchdown Ventures, FitzGate Ventures, Boro Capital, Icebook Investments, and others.

☔ Delos Insurance, a San Francisco, CA-based property insurance for catastrophes platform, raised $7M in Seed funding from IA Capital Group, Blue Bear Capital, Gallatin Point Capital, and Avanta Ventures.

💨 ReSeed, a Cheyenne, WY-based carbon credit platform, raised $5M in Seed funding from One Small Planet and Thorn Partners.

🌱 VIDA, a Munich, Germany-based ESG risk platform, raised $3M in Seed funding from Cusp Capital.

♨️ Build to Zero, a Seville, Spain-based industrial thermal energy storage company, raised $3M in Seed funding from Axon Partners Group and Digital Dive Investment.

🏠 Onsemble, a San Francisco, based home appliance electrification platform, raised $3M in Seed funding from Union Labs, Third Sphere, John Doerr, K9 Ventures, Cleo Capital, and Incite.

🌳 Treefera, a London, UK-based forest monitoring and data platform, raised $2M in Pre-Seed funding from Concept Ventures.

🚗 UNITI, a Stockholm, Sweden-based EV company, raised $1.5M in funding from ARC Group.

🌱 Skoot, a London, UK-based carbon offset platform, raised $1M in Seed funding from Low Carbon Innovation Fund.

Mitra Chem, a Mountain View, CA-based battery materials producer, raised

Exits

🚗 EV Mobility, a Beverly Hills, CA-based EV car-sharing platform, was acquired by Autonomy for an undisclosed amount.

New Funds

Galvanize Climate Solutions, a global climate-focused investment firm, announced the final close of its Innovation + Expansion Fund at over $1B.

The Rockefeller Foundation, announced a $1B, five-year commitment to funding climate change programs.

NordicNinja, the largest Japanese VC in Europe, announced a $213M Fund II to invest in climate tech, deeptech, and digital society.

9900 Capital, a London, UK-based venture fund raised $100M targeting climate change and other fundamental challenges.

Superorganism, a SF and NY-based venture fund, launched to focus on biodiversity and nature startups.

Share new deals and announcements with us at [email protected]

In the News

California lawmakers passed a first-of-its-kind bill mandating large companies report GHG disclosures across direct and indirect emissions. The bill is now with Governor Gavin Newsom for final approval and goes further than the proposed SEC rules on emission disclosures.

The IRA has doubled the share of clean energy technology investments in the US, with electric cars and solar driving the bulk of spending. The data on clean-energy investment was unveiled through a new database by the Rhodium Group and MIT’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.

The E.U. approved a significant sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blending mandate, requiring that sustainable sources make up total aviation fuel at 2% by 2025, 6% by 2025, 20% by 2035, and 70% by 2050.

Lithium Americas, a US company, uncovered one of the world’s largest lithium deposits on the Nevada-Oregon border (close to Burning Man’s playa). The company expects to begin mining in 2026—assuming the lithium can be extracted and refined.

On Friday, nearly 13,000 auto workers staged walkouts at GM, Ford, and Stellantis plants in Detroit—the first time the union has organized a strike at all three automakers simultaneously. The shift to EVs is a central issue in bargaining conversations, as the union aims to preserve jobs and worker power amid the transition away from internal combustion engines.

The EPA, given a completed court settlement, must now adequately consider the impacts of pesticides on vulnerable species when it completes its pesticide assessments and comply with the Endangered Species Act.

Maersk, the global shipping and logistic company, came out of stealth with its own green methanol shipping company, C2X. The company will build and operate “large-scale” production facilities with an expected annual capacity of 3M tons of green methanol by 2030. (Check out our charting maritime decarbonization feature here).

Pop-up

Global Stocktake takes stock of our (limited) progress against Paris Agreement goals.

Hip hip hooray for VPPs! DOE released its report on pathways for Virtual Power Plants.

New battery just dropped. Antora Energy launches its new thermal battery—giant carbon blocks that store and release thermal power to replace heat in industrial applications.

Hungry for expansion. Chinese EV battery manufacturers flock to Hungary. (Sorry not sorry)

Entrepreneurial scientist fellowship, Activate, gets a new CEO.

America’s farmers struggle to harvest data as uptake of AgTech software remains low.

Electricity from thin air: Several teams claim to leverage humidity in air to create a continuous renewable energy source.

Hot off the Press: Al Gore and Lila Preston’s Generation release their latest state of the climate report.

On the Endangered Species Act’s 50th anniversary comes an announcement of $40.6M for efforts to conserve all of America’s most imperiled species.

Opportunities & Events:

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Check out CTVC’s updated NY Climate Week event tracker, from Sept 17th to Sept 24th. And come say hi to the entire team in NYC this week!

🗓️ MCJ LA Climate Tech Meetup: Join MCJ’s LA Climate Tech Meetup on Sept 26th, hosted by J.P. Morgan, to meet other passionate, innovative people in climate tech!

💡Sustainability Consulting Accelerator: Apply for OnePointFive Academy’s upcoming Sustainability Consulting Accelerator to strengthen your skills as sustainability professionals. CTVC subscribers save $379 on tuition if you apply by Oct 2 (mention CTVC in the application's referral section).

🗓️ Accelerate Careers in Corporate Sustainability: Register to join Work on Climate’s workshop on Oct 3rd to learn key lessons in corporate sustainability training.

🗓️ Founder Stories: Register to join Work on Climate’s Founder stories series, where they’ll feature three founders within the built environment electrification space on Oct 3rd.